Going Orange

The girls know the word "college". And they know that Syracuse is the team that Andy watches on TV. But until last weekend, they didn't quite understand that they were the same thing -- and that Syracuse is where Mom and Dad met, and eventually got married. So we were happy to finally take the girls to Syracuse -- not just for a football game, but also to show them a University that will always be special to us.  

We loaded up the car and hit the road for our 5-hour drive. But, as always seems to be the case, our trip didn't didn't go quite as smoothly as planned. Two hours into the drive, Gwen started complaining about a rash she developed earlier in the week. 3 hours into the drive, we realized Gwen had taken her monkey and elephant out of the packed bags and left them at home (more on this later). And then, 4 hours into our trip, the car broke down and we spent 2 hours at the Honda dealership getting it fixed (luckily, it was minor and covered under the warranty). 

So our 5-hour trip ended up taking 8+ hours. Needless to say, after being trapped in the car all day, the girls wouldn't settle down once we got to the hotel. When it was finally time for bed, Gwen wouldn't sleep without her elephant and monkey, so Andy ventured out in the rain to try to find a replacement. Unfortunately, Gwen only wanted the "real" ones. To make a long story short, Friday was a bust. But the weekend got much better on Saturday.

  

On Saturday morning, the girls were back on their game. We ate breakfast at the hotel, swam in the pool, and visited with Ariella's friend Amy and her little boy, AC. Then we headed off to campus for pre-game festivities.

We showed the girls Hendricks Chapel (above), where we got married and introduced them to the statue of Heisman Trophy winner Ernie Davis (below).

Pre-game festivities on the Quad have changed a lot since Andy and Ariella were in college. The girls enjoyed some of the "new" events -- they danced to the DJ's music and slid down a giant slide. But they really loved the "classics" -- once the SU marching started playing, the girls were hooked by the music.

Gwen really enjoyed the drum line's performance. After each cadence, she screamed, "Again!" and asked "My turn now?" Meanwhile, Morgan loved watching the color guard twirl their flags. (Basically, don't be surprised if we have a couple future band members in our  midst. The apples didn't fall far from the tree.)

Finally, we were off to the Carrier Dome for the football game. The girls saw Otto the Orange and ate their first Dome Dogs and Dome pretzels (while Mom and Dad enjoyed a Dome Beer). Unfortunately, our long day on Friday finally caught up with Morgan. By halftime, she was practically falling asleep  (okay, it didn't help that the game wasn't very exciting either).

  

We left the game early and waited for Morgan to get her second wind. By the time we had crossed the Quad, she was feeling herself again. The girls stopped to look at the Sacco and Vanzetti mosaic. "Why is everyone so sad?" Morgan asked.

After a pitstop at the Schine Student Center, we caught the end of the game at the Varsity. Syracuse won 28-17 for the Orange's first win of the season! It was a busy couple of days, but in the end it was totally worth it to finally share our college experience with our little Orange fans.

Weekend epilogue: Luckily, Gwen fell asleep in the car Saturday night on the way back to the hotel after the game. So we avoided another night of screaming because she didn't have her monkey or elephant. But when we got home, she sprinted into the house and grabbed her monkey and elephant. She had hidden them in the living room, but remembered exactly where she had put them. (Little stinker.)

Cape Cod Day 7: Hyannis

After three straight days at the beach, we spent our final day on Cape Cod away from the sun, soaking up the sites in Hyannis instead. After poking around the shops for a little while, we grabbed one last fried fish lunch before heading back toward Main Street. The girls got to pick out some sweets at the candy store (they chose chocolate-covered pretzels). And, just like we did last year, we finished our trip with a ride on the carousel. 

  

When we rode on the Hyannis carousel last year, it was Gwen's first ride. Now she's a year older and an experienced jockey of carousel horses. But she flashed the same smile she did 12 months ago.

Sadly, our summer vacation was finally over. 7 days. 3 beaches. 3 fried seafood platters. 4 trips to the ice cream stand. And countless new experiences that we're glad we were able to share with the Bonsteels and Chiaverinis. Can't wait to do it again next year.

Cape Cod Day 6: Sunset Photo Shoot

Earlier in the week, Lina, Lance and Lucas discovered the beautiful sunsets at nearby Millway Beach. So on Thursday night, Lina offered to take family photos for each of us as the sun dipped over the horizon. The very awesome results are below. 

[Early note to Santa Claus: Andy would really, really like a sweet SLR camera like Lina's -- preferably one with a fancy portrait lens like the one she used to snap these pictures. Thanks, Santa.]

  

  

While Lina was snapping these great photos, Andy shot this doozy of Jeff. We figure it'll make a great campaign poster if Jeff ever runs for Congress ("I'm Jeff Bonsteel and I approved this message") or if he decides to license his image for pharmaceutical advertising ("I'm Jeff Bonsteel and I'm living with Irritable Bowel Syndrome"). Either way, it's a keeper. 

Cape Cod Day 6: Scusset Beach

After two days of splashing in the surf, we decided to mix it up a little bit. Scusset Beach is located at the eastern end of the Cape, right along the Cape Cod Canal. At the entrance of the canal, there's a long rock jetty that shoots out into the canal. The jetty is home to all sorts of sea critters -- sea stars, snails, and crabs -- which gave the kids a fun place to explore. 

By the time we reached the jetty, some kids had already collected a bucket full of sea stars. They were nice enough to share a couple with the kids. Morgan liked the way it wiggled around in her hand. 

  
Ariella and Morgan joined Jeff and Cooper climbing the rocks all the way down to the end of the jetty. Meanwhile, Andy and Gwen headed back toward the beach blankets. Along the way, Gwen ran into a sea gull and couldn't resist the temptation to chase him down. (She did the same thing last year when she was just barely walking.)

 

Despite our explanations why it was a bad idea, Morgan insisted on brining her sea stars back to the house with us. Luckily, she ask where they had disappeared to when we left the house Saturday morning. (She probably wouldn't have liked that explanation either.)

Cape Cod Day 5: Mayflower Beach

Wednesday was our best beach day -- weather-wise and beach-wise. We arrived at Mayflower Beach as the tide was at its lowest  point. When the tide goes out that far out, it leaves behind plenty of tidal pools to splash in and sticky sand to play with. It was perfect for the kids. The little ones spent most of the morning building sloppy sand castles and digging rivers in the tidal pools (Gwen tried boogie-boarding, with little success). Meanwhile, Morgan and Cooper waded far out into the water, which (thanks to the low tide) never got over their heads.

 
When the tide came back in, it came back fast, and quickly washed away the tidal pools. Luckily, we had left our stuff safely on dry land, but there were lots of families who had picked a spot closer to the water who had to scramble to grab all their things before they were swept out to sea.

In the afternoon, the kids had fun exploring the beach, and swimming in the (now deep) water. The water was just one way to cool off, though. After Morgan discovered how the cool sand felt on her feet, it was just a matter of time before all five kids were buried to their waists in sand.

By 3:00, everyone was wiped out. We headed back to the house to clean up and rest up before heading back out for dinner at Seafood Sam's -- one of our favorite fish-fry joints from our vacation last summer.

Amazingly, we got all five kids to pose together for a photo. Needless to say, it's amazing how much they've all grown since our Cape Cod vacation last summer.

We finished off another busy day on the Cape with a pitstop for ice cream. Morgan discovered that "funnelling" through the bottom of the cone is pretty cool way to get those last few drops of chocolate.